updated 12:57 pm EST, Mon February 10, 2014

Verizon promotions to compete with similar T-Mobile offer

Verizon has introduced a pair of promotions that it hopes will attract customers away from AT&T and T-Mobile, by offering a number of incentives that are relatively similar to those of its competitors. Line activation fees have been eliminated for a short period of time, while customers trading in devices will apparently receive a Verizon gift card worth at least $100.

Activation fees are waived on all new lines activated on the service, effectively saving customers $35, though only until February 17th. The trade-in offer will provide customers with between $100 and $300 of Verizon credit, given to the customer within two weeks of receiving the device, reportsUbergizmo. As per the terms and conditions, the traded-in device needs to be a working device, and also requires a new two-year commitment at the same time as the trade-in itself. This second promotion runs until the end of March.

The promotions offered by Verizon appear to be a counter to others from two other larger carriers. T-Mobile offers customers up to $300 as a credit for the value of a trade-in device, as well as offering to pay up to $350 per line towards the early termination fee for customers transferring from other networks. AT&T offered a similar $450 transfer bounty, consisting of a $200 automatic credit and up to $250 on a device trade-in, but later discontinued the offer in favor of a flat $100 bill credit for line activations